Overall, 680 men completed the study. Those who reported the most mental health issues were the most likely to become HIV positive by the end of the study.
BOSTON — Gay and bisexual men have a higher chance of acquiring HIV if they have mental health problems according to a new study from the Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
Reported on by Reuters Health and other news outlets, the study found that their risk of acquiring HIV increases with the number of mental health factors they report.
Past studies have found that mental disorders ranging from depression to substance abuse are often seen among men with HIV but “nothing about whether these factors predict HIV risk behaviors or becoming infected with HIV,” study leader Matthew Mimiaga was quoted as having said.
For the new study in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, the researchers looked at how five conditions — depression, alcohol abuse, stimulant use, multi-drug abuse and exposure to childhood sexual violence — affect men’s risk of acquiring HIV.
They analyzed data on 4,295 men who reported having sex with men within the previous year. The participants were asked about depressive symptoms, heavy alcohol and drug use and childhood sexual abuse, Reuters Health reports.
The participants did not have HIV when they entered the study between 1999 and 2001. They then completed a behavioral survey and HIV test every six months for four years.
Overall, 680 men completed the study. Those who reported the most mental health issues were the most likely to become HIV positive by the end of the study. They were also most likely to report unprotected anal sex and unprotected anal sex with a person who has HIV, Reuters said.
For example, compared to people without any of the five conditions, those with four or five had about a nine-fold increased risk of being infected with HIV by the end of the study.
The people with four or five mental disorders were also about three times more likely to have unprotected anal sex and about four times as likely to have unprotected anal sex with a person infected with HIV, compared to people without any mental health issues.
Researchers said the next step is to look at how this information can be used to improve HIV prevention methods, the Reuters report notes.
Mental health issues increase HIV risk: study
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